Abrading-machine.



No. 779,584. PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905. E. L. BUZZELL. ABRADING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 25. 1904.

$7 4/69? ww/WW Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST L. BUZZELL, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

ABRADlNG-IVIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,584, dated January 10, 1905.

Application filed February 25, 1904. Serial No. 195,195.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST L. BUZZELL, a citizen of the United States, residing atLynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Abrading-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to portable manually-operated machines for smoothing floors or other surfaces.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple machine which may be pushed over the floor or other surface, which will smooth and polish said surface without removing slight undulations unless it is desired to remove them, and which receives power from its traction-wheels.

To the above ends the present invention consists of the devices and combinations of devices to be hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view, of my improved machine. Fig. 3

is a side elevation of an improved type of abrading-roll and its shaft. Fig. 4 is an end view showing the opened roll.

Similar reference characters will be used to denote like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

A is a frame consisting of side pieces or walls A, connected together by a handle-receiving brace A and stiffened by means of one or more transverse rods A Tractionwheels B, mounted upon a shaft B, journaled centrally of the side walls A, are located outside of and adjacent the side walls. These traction-wheels are preferably provided with rubber tires B in order to afford a better tractive force between the wheels and the floor.

Between the side walls of the frame and near one end thereof is arranged aroll U, the surface of which is covered with sandpaper or some other abrading material. This roll, which may be of any usual type of abrading or buffing roll, is carried by a shaft C, jourone of the traction-wheels B. When the wheelsB are rotated, therefore, the abradingroll C will be likewise rotated, but in the opposite direction and at a higher speed, dependent upon the relative proportions of the gear-wheel and the pinion. WVhen the machine is set upon the floor in the position shown in Fig. 1 and is pushed across the floor, the abrading-roll is operated in the manner described, and since the roll rests upon the floor material is removed from the surface thereof. The amount of the removed material depends upon the speed at which the machine is moved and also upon the pressure applied.

The length of the abrading-roll is much in excess of the combined widths of the traction- Wheels, and the parts of the machine must therefore be designed so that the proportion between the pressure upon the traction-wheels and that upon the roll is slightly greater than the proportion between the length of the roll and the combined widths of the tractionwheels, or the roll will fail to operate. The best results are obtained when the center of the roll is in the vicinity of the periphery of the traction-wheels, and the handle A forms about a right angle with the plane connecting the axes of the roll and traction-wheels. In this case the pressure which is naturally exerted in pushing the machine is efficiently distributed.

The abrading-machine adapts itself to any ordinary condition of surfaces, and while it removes more material from the high parts of a warped surface than from the low parts when it is moved rapidly still it may be operated to smooth all portions without leveling them, or it may be operated so as to make the surface not only smooth, but also level. By

lifting slightly upon the handle the roll is raised from the floor, and the machine may be moved without affecting the floor.

Although any type of abrading-roll may be used in this machine, I prefer to use the improved form illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. This roll is an improvement on that disclosed in Letters Patent No. 315,477, in which the roll is made in halves, which are clamped together, so as to hold the ends of the sandpaper between them. The present invention contemplates cutting the roll (3 diagonally, as at C, so that when the sandpaper C is Wrapped about it and the halves are clamped together the meeting line 0 between the two ends of the sandpaper is at a slight angle to an element of the cylinder, whereby when the roll is moved across a surface some portion of the sandpaper is always in contact with said surface, giving a smooth and uninterrupted action. This construction of roll permits the use of rectangular sheets of sandpaper, which may be easily placed in position without the exercise of particular care in so doing and without necessitating sharp corners on the halves of the roll.

The sides of the frame are elongated, so that when the traction-wheels are journaled near the middle thereof the frame may be tilted in order to permit either the roll or the opposite end of the frame to rest upon the floor, permitting the roll to operate or to be held free from the floor while it is being replaced or while it is being provided with a fresh piece of sandpaper.

The operation of the present invention has been set forth in connection with the above description of the construction thereof, and

further exposition of the operation is therefore unnecessary.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States 1. An abrading-machine having in combination, traction-wheels, a swinging frame, an abrading-roll journaled within said frame at a point near the periphery of the tractionwheels, said abrading-roll being smaller in diameter thanthe traction-wheels, and having its axis arranged below the axis of the traction-wheels,and gearing between said tractionwheels and roll, substantially as described.

2. An abrading-machine having in combination, traction-wheels, a swinging frame carrying an abrading-roll smaller in diameter than the traction-wheels, and having its axis arranged below the axis of the traction-wheels, gearing between said traction-wheels and roll and an operating-handle extending radially with relation to said traction-wheels and making an angle of about ninety degrees with the plane passing through the axes of the traction-wheels and of the abrading-roll, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST L. BUZZELL. Witnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREICI-I, MAY A. KENNEY. 

